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I need a new Web Browser....now

Sorry folks, this thread is unrelated to many of the threads around, but I am really upset at my current browser and I would like some suggested alternatives. Reasons and opinions are strongly encouraged. I have been with AOL for over six years and the spam, crashes and total inability to open upwards of half the downloads sent to me are highly frustrating. There is a very up-to-date PC in my office and I could always go there to get whatever AOL could not handle. Tonight, I tried to log onto EXPEDIA to buy some airline tickets and my browser is not supported. Travelocity had the same error message. I really don't know what is going on, I just want it to stop. I am working from a Macintosh Computer running 8.6 and I have another Apple in my upstairs in my personal office that has version 9.04. AOL fully (seems?) to support the new I-mac but only throws crumbs to us older users. The only reason that I have resisted changing is because most of my best friends use AOL and I like the Instant Message feature. But, considering the rest of the frustrations, I can do without!

Who do you use? Why? Who did you use and why did you change and was this change for the better? I hear Yahoo! is back on the rise and several people I know simply use hotmail.

I am going to change. Please, any suggestions are highly appreciated! Needless to say, this is not some fishing expedition intended to count posts from other A'gon members.
unclejeff
t_bone
1,182 posts
 
My current favorite BROWSER is Mozilla, downloadable for free here. I find it is quicker than other browsers and I like the feature of tabs at the top of the window which allow me to keep several windows 'live' at a time without clogging up the taskbar.

As for CONNECTION/ISP service, I have never been an AOL user so cannot offer a comparison between AOL and 'regular' ISP/browser access.
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Yes..try out the Mozilla browser...
Ag insider logo xs@2x
drubin
3,274 posts
 
Apple's new browser, Safari, is terrific. May require OS X, I'm not sure. Noticeably faster than IE.
ed_sawyer
588 posts
 
Safari does require OSX. I'd suggest finding a new (real) provider other than AOL. Any of the aforementioned ones would be fine. Cable or DSL is preferred for speed reasons. Once you have a real ISP (e.g. not AOL), you can use whatever browser you like. For the Mac, running OS8.x or 9.x, IE 5.2 is one of the best browsers. Mozilla and Netscape 6 are somewhat slower, at least in some operations, and not quite as mature. I havent' tried Safari yet. Netscape 4.7, although older, is still faster in some ways than Mozilla, NS6, or IE 5.x. I keep it around for that reason. (super fast when using Audioasylum.com for example). IF you can, upgrade to Mac OS 9.2 - it's the latest Mac OS 9 operating system, and very stable and fast. I run it on my 2 macs (yet to make the switch to OSX). 8.6 is a bit older and while decent, not as fast as OS9.2.

enjoy,
-Ed
jax2
3,031 posts
 
Ed Sawyer's advice is spot-on. Safari is dead stable on Mac OSX ONLY. You cannot use it on any previous version. Mac OSX in it's current version 10.2.6 (NOT the earlier 10.1 versions) is an OUTSTANDING operating system but requires a bit of re-learning if you are used to the older Mac systems. DO NOT by any means use Netscape with a 9.X operating system; not only is it slow but it is VERY unstable and crashes frequently in my experience. If you decide to stick with one of the classic versions of Mac OS (8.6 - 9.2.2) then use Internet Explorer 5.1.2 currently available for free online, as are most, if not all, browsers. One further word of caution on upgrading to OSX. If you do want to maintain your older files and entire classic system as it stands now you must first upgrade to 9.2.2 in order to jump to OSX smoothly. Not doing so may result in much more trouble than it's worth. As Ed points out, 9.2.2 is a fast and fine operating system. OSX is an ENTIRELY different environment....also it really needs around 256MB RAM to run smoothly with other programs, though the minimum requirement stated is 128MB. OSX LOVES RAM. RAM is dirt cheap right now. DUMP AOL the first chance you get and get a decent ISP and have them help set up your computer for mail and web. DSL is best as Ed said. AOL is a worthless Disneyland of a plastic Big Brother interfaces that is so clogged up with users, filters and firewalls, and lots of pretty colors, bells and whistles that even a supossitory the size of Kansas wouldn't loosen up those binary bowels!!! Dump em' and never look back. Stay away from the bigger ISP's like MSN. Try to find a more local or regional company that's been in bussiness for a long time and that other customers are happy with. If you must go with a larger ISP I've heard some good words about Earthlink.

Good luck!

Marco
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